Helpline
by TayMor
Summary: Sequel to 'The Phone Call'. Sasuke now needs Hinata more than he needs anyone else, even though he has never seen her face. The case against Itachi intensifies with new evidence, Sasuke finds mysterious gifts on his doorstep and he falls in love... with the beautiful voiceless girl Hana. Only she is closer to him than he realizes. In fact, she's his Helpline! No OC.
1. The Helpline

**So, you guys wanted an addition to The Phone Call, and here is what my crazy brain came up with! Enjoy! You don't have to read The Phone Call to get this story, but it would definitely help, since this is the sequel!**

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**Chapter 1: The Helpline**

Sleep.

After a long day at the office, sleep was all Hinata wanted. However, the comforting respite was more elusive tonight than it had been in a while. Hinata sat up in bed, her mind reeling, the thoughts refusing to just quiet themselves.

She kicked her covers off and swung her feet to the floor clutching her forehead in her hands.

She was worried.

Sasuke hadn't called her back, and it was driving her completely insane. With worry. Silence from someone going through what he was going through was not a good sign. Hinata slid off her bed, the moonlight from her large windows eking through a sliver of space between her curtains and casting a shaft of blue light across her bare chest. Hinata straightened her camisole and padded from her room, heading to the living room.

Every second that passed made her more worried, the dark haired man filling her every thought. Had he hurt himself since the time he'd called? He had sounded so broken. Was he okay? Well, she highly doubted that, but still... was he _alive? _

Hinata poured herself a glass of white wine and went where she did when she needed to think. The window. Hinata stood where she had that fateful night when Sasuke had called her, her mind taking her back to the moment that he'd entered her life.

* * *

_Hinata jumped as the opening notes of Good Charlotte's 'I Just Wanna Live' blared from her phone, the appliance vibrating madly in her hands. Hinata looked down at the item in shock. Someone was calling her?_

_It must be a wrong number._

_She answered anyway._

_"Hello?"_

**_"What really is there to live for, huh? Why shouldn't I just give up right now?" _**_the person on the other end of the line ranted without preamble._

_"Erm… sir?" Hinata started._

**_"I mean, I… When you find out that the brother you've loved all these years killed your entire family, what do you do? What are you supposed to feel, huh? And you find this out the day your bride walks out on you in the middle of the ceremony?" _**_the man yelled into the phone. His breathing was harsh over the line. Hinata could feel her heart racing in her chest. Whatever was she supposed to do?_

**_"Everything is going wrong. Everything. I wanted the kid. Why wouldn't Sakura believe me, huh? Even when I told her I wanted it… she goes and… she goes and drinks, and then the bitch falls off the edge of the roof and ends up killing my little boy," _**_the man sobbed over the line. __**"I felt him kick… before… I put my hand on her stomach, and felt my little boy kick my hand… and she…" **__the man's voice broke as harsh sobs sounded over the line._

_Hinata swallowed nervously. How could she tell this man that he'd called the wrong number? How could she tell him that she wasn't sure she wanted to hear all this? She didn't know who he was._

_"S-Sir?" she tried again. She couldn't ask if he was alright, because he so obviously wasn't._

**_"I'm on the edge of a building, you know," _**_he chuckled. __**"Because it's too much. I had an 'episode' at work, and got fired. I'm the second son. My big brother's the heir, and of course he inherited, since he offed my parents… I just can't wrap my head around it," **__the man rambled. __**"And then I think, the confusion and the pain and the fear, well they'll all end if I jump, won't they?"**_

_Hinata's breath caught in her throat._

_"No!" she screamed suddenly into the phone. "No."_

* * *

Hinata ran her hand over her face, her throat closing with panic. He was supposed to call. After she'd talked him down from the edge of the hotel roof, he'd asked her if he could call her, and she'd told him yes. He was _supposed _to call. For once, Hinata was not obsessing over her own insecurities because a man didn't call when he'd insinuated that he would.

Once again, Hinata's eyes watched unseeingly over the Konoha city, lit even at this obscene hour of the night. Hinata stared out at the cars driving about, the tiny people walking along the still lit sidewalks and dashing across the streets. Was any of them Sasuke? What was he doing right now? What was he feeling?

Hinata took a sip of her wine and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. She eyed the phone sitting innocently on her coffee table.

_'Ugh. This actually really sucks. I need to know how you are, Sasuke-san,' _Hinata thought, nibbling her lower lip. Swallowing the rest of the wine, Hinata rested the glass on the coffee table and picked up her phone. Staying awake was not going to make him call her any sooner, so the brunette slid back under the covers and willed herself to go back to sleep. She had another long day at work tomorrow.

Sleep was tugging at the very last vestiges of her consciousness, when she heard it.

_I need an alarm system in my house..._

Hinata snatched up the phone, suddenly awake.

"Hello?" she answered.

"I don't understand this. Why the hell did this have to happen to me? Why is it that I'm the one left alone after all of this? Huh? What did I do so bad? I know I used to be a bastard and Karma is a bitch but was what I did really so bad?" the male voice ranted over the phone. Hinata felt tears of relief sting her eyes.

"Y-You idiot," she warbled into the phone. "Do you have any idea how much you made me worry? Why did you take so long to call? It's been two weeks! I thought you were dead!" Hinata cried. She was met with silence over the line.

"You... you were worried about me?" Sasuke asked, his voice filled with hesitancy. "I didn't think..."

"What?" Hinata almost snapped. "You didn't think I would care? What do you take me for? I was worried _sick! _What if something happened to you?" Sasuke gave a short, mirthless chuckle.

"Fine, I'll call you sooner next time. I didn't think you wanted to be saddled with my every issue..." Hinata didn't respond for a moment, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Hinata-chan? Are you there?" Sasuke called.

"Mmmhmm," Hinata replied with a murmur. "Are you okay though? You're not hurt or anything?" she asked, clearing her throat.

"I'm fine," Sasuke snapped immediately. There was a pause, in which Hinata silently conveyed her disbelief. "Okay, fine.. so I'm not. I don't get it! Why me?"

"I don't think anyone has the answer to that, Sasuke."

"I feel like I can't breathe, Hinata," Sasuke rasped over the line. His quickened breath made it clear to Hinata that the man was on the verge of hyperventilating. "The apartment is so quiet... Sakura isn't here and even though I kinda hate her right now, I'm missing her more than I can even describe," Sasuke gasped. Hinata stayed quiet, letting him speak.

"I mean... it's just so stifling here, and I... I just think maybe if I..."

"Don't you dare even think about suffocating yourself, Sasuke-san," Hinata said firmly into the phone.

"You don't know what it is like," Sasuke snarled over the line, but Hinata could hear the fear. "You don't have any idea what it is like to step into your house and see your parents..." he choked, his voice faltering over the sentence. "Kami, Hinata, there was _so much blood. _He used the freaking chef's knife, Hinata-chan... and he..." Sasuke dissolved into tears, the sounds harsh and raspy.

"I can't sleep... everytime I close my eyes, I see the bodies and their bloody faces and I... I wake up and I want to talk to Sakura, but... but she's gone, and she took my little boy from me... I never even got to see his face, or hold his hand.. but I loved my little boy, you know...' the man blubbered over the phone.

He spoke to her, telling him how he felt and the feelings welling up inside him, and Hinata responded in the moments when he could no longer speak since he was in tears, or just incapable. Before Hinata even realized it, the pale blue light of the moon had faded into the pale yellow of the sunrise. Sasuke paused in the middle of a something he'd been saying and gave a mirthless chuckle.

"I don't usually talk this much... but you...I..." Sasuke stopped, scoffed and then sighed. "Are you even there still?"

"Yeah..." Hinata said softly. "You're right, I don't know what it is like. But what I do know is that you won't get any stronger if you give up. There must be a reason why your brother did what he did, right?"

"I don't know about that. I wanted to believe that he … he... I don't know what to believe, but I believe what I see, and what I saw was pretty damning..." Sasuke grunted. For a moment, only their breathing sounding over the line.

"Hinata...?" Sasuke said after a while.

"Yes?" Hinata responded, her voice quiet, and more relaxed now that she'd spoken to him and realized that he was indeed, fine.

"Tell me more about yourself," he demanded. Hinata smiled.

"You need to say 'please'," Hinata teased, knowing he could hear her smile through her voice.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, and Hinata giggled.

"You know you always do that thing when you're trying to evade a question..." she said on a chuckle. "You're like all 'Hn. I'm too cool to respond to that'." There was silence over the line.

"...Does it really sound like that?" Sasuke asked.

"A little bit," Hinata said with a smile. She turned over in her bed, pulling her pillow closer to her chest.

* * *

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, clenching his teeth against a smile. It felt like a sin to smile in the face of the shit that his life was. How could he smile when his parents were murdered... when his little boy was dead... when Sakura had left him for Kami knew what reason...? How could he smile when he was all alone?

The past two weeks had been terrible, especially after he'd gotten a taste of what it felt like to tell someone what was on his mind. To get it out of his thoughts and into the air. She'd talked him away from the edge of a building, and Kami knew, the whole week he'd been staring longingly at the phone, aching to just take it up and call her.

Hinata.

He didn't know what she looked like. _She _didn't know what he looked like, but it didn't matter. She knew more about him than the people who knew what he looked like did. And sure she may not have a clue about _him_, per se, as in, his likes and dislikes and his general reactions to things, but … she could. He'd finally given in to the need to call her when he'd felt like the air itself was crushing him.

* * *

_Sasuke staggered through his bathroom door, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror over the sink. He looked like shit. His cheeks were sunken, his hair looked dull, his eyes were red and puffy and he literally looked like he'd been through the wringer. And he had._

_It was just that no one really knew. He hadn't told anyone that Sakura was pregnant, so no one understood why he hated her for falling._

_He hadn't told any of his friends about how his parents were killed, and the lawyers and the police were keeping the whole thing very hushed up so as to avoid a huge scandal for Uchiha Industries. _

_Sasuke turned on the tap and watched the water gushing from the faucet, pooling in the basin before swirling around the drain. That's how his life felt. As if he were the faucet and the water was everything good in his life. It was all going to hell. After splashing water on his face, the cold liquid not doing anything to make him feel better, Sasuke turned the water off with an aggravated twist of his wrist. _

_He hadn't showered since earlier that morning, but he didn't have the energy to do it now. Sasuke barely made it to his bed before he collapsed, tears seeping from his eyes. No matter how hard he closed his eyes, the tears still came. No matter how hard he clenched his teeth, the sobs still escaped. No matter how hard he tried, he was still weak and he still ached to take the phone._

_Hinata. 'In the Sun'. _

_He could talk to her, right? It would be okay for him to talk to her, right?_

_He was an Uchiha. He didn't need to call some woman crying about his fucked up life. He didn't need to tell anyone how he was the one with the entire weight of Uchiha Industries on his shoulders since Itachi was under investigation and prohibited from operating the company._

_Sasuke rolled face up on his bed, his dark eyes glued to the ceiling. His room felt hot and uncomfortable. The air felt cloying and suffocating._

_It was that thought. It was that thought that made the mere air in his room feel as if it was a hand clasped over his nose, stopping him from taking a breath. Sasuke opened his mouth, trying to suck air in through his throat, but the passage was closed. Tightly. His chest heaving and his lungs burning, Sasuke tried to suck in air, but to no avail. _

_Eyes wide with panic, Sasuke stretched a hand to his left, feeling blindly over the sheets for his phone. His hot, sweaty palm made contact with the cool hardness of the device, which had been partially hidden by the sheets._

_Hinata. He needed her._

_He needed someone to explain. Why?_

_As his fingers closed around his phone, Sasuke rolled over, sitting on the edge of the bed, his feet placed flat on the ground, his head between his legs, and a gasp shuddered through him. He couldn't get the air into his lungs fast enough, and it burned the insides of his throat as he hungrily sucked it into his lungs. _

_He breathed so fast that he choked, the memory of his parents' still bloody bodies and Itachi standing to the side with the bloody knife in his hand surging to his memory. Then his stomach flipped, and one shaking hand came up to cover his mouth on instinct before he hurled. _

_The mixture of bile and whatever it was that was still in his stomach exploded from his lips, bursting through the cracks between his fingers and dribbling down his chin, dripping down onto the floor. Sasuke tried to stand to get to the bathroom, but his knees were far too weak for him to even move. And then his stomach twisted and he was hurling again._

_Some five minutes after, his bare feet in a pool of pale tan liquid, Sasuke gasped. This couldn't go on. He weakly wiped his mouth with a corner of his sheets and, with shaking fingers, he scrolled through the Call History on his phone and let the call go through._

_It only rang once before that voice he would never forget answered. And then Sasuke felt anger and hurt surge through him._

_"I don't understand this. Why the hell did this have to happen to me?"_

* * *

Sasuke was forced to admit when he heard her soft chuckle over the line, that he really needed a friend. He'd needed to hear her voice. Just these few hours with her and his breathing was back to normal and his stomach no longer felt upset. His head still ached, but he could think now.

"You still haven't told me much about yourself," Sasuke muttered over the phone clutched in his grip.

"You still haven't said please," Hinata responded cheekily, and Sasuke could hear the smile in her voice. She smiled so much. Sometimes he could tell that the smile was sad, and that the sadness was for him, and it didn't make him feel so alone anymore.

"...Please," he said after a moment.

"Would you tell me more about yourself... please."

* * *

**Well, there you have it! I've worked out a bit of a plot for where I am taking this story, and I really hope you enjoy this! Please leave me a review!**


	2. I Needed To Hear Your Voice

**Wow, wonderful response! Glad you all enjoyed the last chapter! To answer you guys' questions, they will definitely meet, but it will not be this chapter. I am not gonna tell you when, but I can tell you that they definitely will! Anyways, Onwards!**

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**_Chapter 2: I Needed To Hear Your Voice_**

"Uchiha-san? How do you want to proceed?"

Silence filled the boardroom as all the managers of the company as well as the Uchiha lawyers turned to Sasuke. He'd never been allowed to lead the managers of the company while his parents were alive. They'd never allowed him to really take part, more than his part as the Purchasing Manager, but... Itachi had tried to guide him, tried to get him to the board meetings, but Fugaku had always refused, and Sasuke didn't know why.

He got the distinct feeling that something wasn't right.

The air in the room felt too thick to inhale. Maybe that had something to do with the members of staff that were smoking. Or maybe it was just the panic blocking off his airways. Maybe it was a mixture of both.

"...Uchiha-san?"

"Excuse me, while I use the restroom," Sasuke choked out, rising from his seat and pushing his way out of the boardroom.

"But Uchiha-san, wait! You haven't told us-"

"I said," Sasuke snapped, "Excuse me." The youngest Uchiha pushed the boardroom doors open, tugging frantically at his necktie as the article of clothing had begun to feel as if it were strangling him. He noticed absently as he stalked down the hallways that he was sweating, and his stomach felt upset again.

What was he supposed to tell them when he went back? Would he even go back there? He had no idea really what to do, and now the multi-million dollar business was in his inexperienced hands. And what was that feeling that he couldn't seem to shake? That feeling that dictated that there was so much that he had no idea about...

Sasuke ignored the curious stares of the workers he passed as he pushed his way into the elevators. He was alone in the moving box, and halfway down, Sasuke began to regret his decision. His vision was swimming, making the elevator walls seem like they were closing in on him, and when he looked down, the burgundy carpet took the appearance of a swimming pool of dark red liquid.

Sasuke gasped, stepping back sharply and looking upwards instinctively. A pair of eyes looked back at him, and a shadowy figure stood several steps away, holding a knife still dripping. No. It couldn't be. Sasuke swallowed deeply, blinking rapidly to try and clear the images.

It wasn't real. In fact, the man before him was not his murderous older brother, but his reflection in the shiny silver elevator doors. The bloody knife was nothing more than the mirror image of his red tie hanging loosely from his hands. Sasuke gasped, his lungs already burning, and desperately slapped at the buttons on the elevator's control panel. He needed the machine to stop. He needed to get off. Now.

The machine hissed to a halt, jerking only slightly, and Sasuke was moving before the doors were even fully open. He jogged to the restroom as his stomach turned again, nauseated by the hallucinations he'd seen in the elevator. Sasuke cupped a hand over his nose and mouth, dragging in shaky breaths in an effort to calm his stomach, but to no avail.

He'd barely gotten to a stall in the restroom before his breakfast and lunch came surging up his throat and into the toilet. The bile stung and created an acidic burn in the back of his mouth, and his hands trembled from where they rested on the rim of the toilet bowl. They wouldn't be able to hold his weight for much longer.

Sasuke, his hands shaking weakly, pulled the stall door shut and sat on the floor, his back resting against the door.

He longed to just... to have someone.

Hinata.

The name seemed to just echo around his mind, weaving around all the clutter that filled it and burning itself in the foreground of his consciousness, and before Sasuke knew it, he was reaching for his phone.

He'd called her every night for the past week, and he needed her again now. Sasuke had been addicted to things before, so he could recognize it when he saw it... or rather, felt it. And this is what calling Hinata was slowly becoming. An addiction. He couldn't sleep at night without hearing her voice first.

His right thumb jabbed over the numbers and then he put the phone to his ear and just waited. It rang twice before she answered.

"Hello?"

"It's gonna be alright... right?" Sasuke said immediately, his voice raspy after he'd thrown up. "I mean... I'm gonna get through this, right?"

"Sasuke...?" he heard her say. There were some shuffles, and some other authoritative voices in the background, so Sasuke figured he must have caught her at work. He'd never called her during the day before.

"Sasuke... I'm at work..." she continued, her voice hushed.

"Hn... I just... I needed to hear your voice..." Sasuke murmured. "Would you... Would you stay a bit?"

"I... One moment," he heard her say. All the sounds coming over the line seemed to be muted and warbled, so Sasuke surmised that she'd put her hand over the receiver. The sounds grew sharper and Sasuke could hear a sound like stilettos over tile... Hinata wore heels. High heels by the sounds of it. He'd not known that before. He could hear people greeting her as she walked, and then there was the sound of a door being opened, and then there was a blowing sound, like wind. She must have gone outside.

"Sasuke? Are you still there?" she asked then, her voice soft and worried.

"Yeah... yeah I'm at work... and they are all looking to me to lead them, but I don't know... I don't know what to tell them... and I keep seeing things... I keep seeing blood, and Itachi with the knife... and my parents... oh, Kami, Hinata is something wrong with me?" Sasuke rasped his eyes stinging.

He was scared.

He was terrified.

"It sounds like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Sasuke. Have you spoken to a psychiatrist? The police are supposed to assign one to you after-"

"I told them I had my own doctor, and that I didn't need theirs. I don't need a shrink," Sasuke groused, his brows pulling together.

"Sasuke..." Hinata murmured. "You do need o-"

"I only need you..." Sasuke said, his voice low and quiet. His heart hurt. "I don't want anyone else. I just need you."

* * *

Hinata blinked, her mind going completely blank. Sasuke's words rang in her ear, ricocheting around in her brain.

_I don't want anyone else. I just need you._

How was she supposed to respond to that?

"S-Sasuke... I'm not a professional. I've never done this before, so I don't know what to-"

"Just..." Sasuke interrupted, sounding a bit impatient. "You're fine the way you are. I _don't_ need a shrink. I don't _want _a shrink. If I go to freakin' therapy I'm going to have to keep talking about _feelings_ when I just want to hear your voice. So just... just talk to me..." Hinata swallowed, unsure of how to proceed.

"Sasuke... What do I talk about? Just..." She cleared her throat. "Just _anything?_"

"Just anything..." he reiterated softly. Silence filled the line for a moment, and Hinata moved to lean her back against the wall. She was so unused to this. What was she even supposed to say?

"S-So... this morning... I overslept," she began, just choosing something completely random. And then it was like everything was going wrong after that because I was rushing, and nothing was working... and when it comes to lateness, the general manager is seriously..." Hinata faltered as she thought of the correct word to use to accurately describe Hashirada-san.

"Anal?" Sasuke supplied, a hint of a smile in his voice. Hinata giggled.

"...Yes... he's..." She looked around a bit to see if anyone was around before whispering, "...anal, and-" Sasuke's laughter halted Hinata's words. His laughter was kind of... adorable... apart from the fact that he seemed to be laughing _at _her.

"What?" she asked, her lower lip pushing forward slightly. "Wh-What's so funny?"

"You... You're kinda adorable..." Hinata frowned at his reply.

"What? No I'm n-not! Wh-where is this coming from?" she asked over Sasuke's slightly raspy chuckles.

"Say 'anal' again," Sasuke said, still chuckling softly. Hinata frowned. She did not want to say that word again.

"A-" She looked around before trying again. "Anal..." she whispered. "Are you happy now?"

"Well, yeah... because you keep whispering it. You're a big girl... say 'anal' out loud," Sasuke demanded, a smile in his voice. Or maybe it was a smirk.

"N-No," Hinata refused. "I-I don't want to... I-It's such a dirty word..."

"What, are you chicken?" Sasuke goaded. Hinata's face went red. "Don't want to say dirty words with me?" he teased, the smile no longer in his voice, but the amusement still apparent.

"I-I" She looked around hastily before continuing in a furious whisper, "I don't want to say dirty words with you. What if someone hears me?"

"That's the point, isn't it? When you go back to the meeting, I dare you to say 'anal' somewhere, and send me a recording from your phone," Sasuke said, his voice dropping low and sultry.

"Wh- No, I won't," Hinata hissed as she tried to squelch her smile.

"Come on... you know you want to..." he teased. Hinata folded one arm across her stomach and turned to the wall. She wanted to. Something so juvenile just seemed so... tempting.

"I w-won't be able to do it..." she said, a little sadly.

"Sure you can... leave the line open, then... I want to hear..." Sasuke said. Hinata felt her face heat. She'd never had anyone dare her to do anything before...

"F-Fine. I'm going back in now, then... If you dare hang up on me..." she half growled.

"What? What could you possibly do?" Sasuke taunted.

"I won't pick up the next time you call..." Hinata threatened, loving how firm her voice sounded. Silence reigned over the line.

"...No you won't..." Sasuke said after a moment. "You'll pick up. Right?" The hesitancy in his voice broke Hinata's heart.

"I'll pick up," she said. "I'll always pick up."

Ten minutes later, Hinata was back in the meeting, but had not found her opportunity yet.

"The quarterly budgets have not come in yet, and they need to be sent in before Monday," the general manager groused, shuffling a sheaf of papers that lay before him. "They need to be reviewed before there is any spending, because we don't want a repeat of the July incident, which occurred last year." Several of the other managers sighed.

"Hashirada, are you ever going to let that go? It wasn't as bad as-" one of the other managers said tiredly, but was interrupted by the general manager.

"If you dare say it wasn't as bad as it seemed!" Hashirada-san yelled. "I worked my way up to my position for fifteen years in this company, and that moronic... spatz nearly had me removed from my position! My career was on the line!" Hinata was beginning to grow weary of the general manager's yelling.

"Hashirada-san... you don't have to be quite so a-anal about the whole issue," she said quietly, and all sound ceased to exist in the boardroom. Literally. "M-My father would never have fired you because of such a g-gross misunderstanding," Hinata continued in the silence, hearing the tinny laughter coming from the phone in her lap.

"A-Anal?" Hashirada-san sputtered, eyes round, face pale and mouth agape. "Did she just say... anal?" Once again, silence reigned supreme before the other managers erupted into laughter.

"C-Can we move on?" Hinata asked, but her whispery feminine voice was drowned out by the raucous masculine laughter that filled the room.

* * *

"I will never live this down," Hinata complained to Sasuke as she fumbled with the lock on her apartment door.

"Why do you even want to? I wish I'd been there to see his face," Sasuke said, amusement evident in his tone. The meeting had to be put off because the managers could not calm down after Hinata's uncharacteristic comment and had begun to insert the word 'Anal' into every sentence where it could be applied. It turned out that the stuffy managers with apparently repressed childhoods could find numerous applicable spots for the word in their sentences.

"Well, you're not me..." Hinata mumbled as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. "I don't say things like..." She looked around again. "Like _anal..._"

"_Why _do you keep whispering that word? Anal. Anal. Anal," Sasuke said, his voice low and blank.

"B-Because..." Hinata muttered, unable to come up with an actual reason. She just couldn't seem to say it any louder than a whisper.

"Hn. Maybe you will make more friends because of the word anal, and then it will become your favorite word..." Sasuke mumbled, sounding as if he was eating something.

"What are you eating?" Hinata asked, glad for a reason to change the subject. She tossed her keys onto the kitchen counter and shrugged off her coat before kicking off her heels.

"Tomato," Sasuke returned. "So... are you home yet?"

"Just stepped in, why?" Hinata replied, opening the fridge door and taking out a chilled bottle of water.

"...No reason. Just asking." Hinata paused at the abruptness of the last sentence. He'd obviously wanted to say more, but didn't. Hinata wasn't sure whether to press for more information, or to just move on.

"Tell me what you were going to say..." she heard herself say.

"Leave it alone, Hinata," Sasuke said bluntly. Hinata sighed and unscrewed the cap of the bottle before taking a sip.

"Just tell me," she pressed after swallowing. This was the first time she's had a friend... who she could talk about random things with. She liked it.

"Hinata... Let. It. Go," Sasuke growled over the line, seemingly getting a bit touchy. She needed to relax the tension building up over the line.

Whoever thought that she couldn't give a bit of friendly ribbing had another think coming. Hinata grinned to herself before replying, trying to mimic Sasuke's attitude and the sound of his voice as best she could.

"Hn. No need to get _anal_ about it."

* * *

**So not much here. There will be a sighting next chapter. I just wanted to put a bit of friendly banter in here. Really random, so I hope it wasn't too slow. The first part bears meaning on the rest of the story, though, so there is that. **


	3. Catching A Glimpse

**Oh you guys! You are far too kind! Also, please check out my proposed updating schedule - it is on my profile - since that is what I am going to try to stick to! Since I am no longer unemployed (lol), I have much less time, so I'm focusing on the ones on the schedule!**

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**Chapter 3: Catching A Glimpse**

The rain was coming down in torrents, rushing along the sidewalk and churning around the wheels of the slowly moving cars in the bumper-to-bumper late evening traffic. Hyuuga Hinata hugged her coat more snugly around her figure, huddling under her umbrella even though it was pretty much useless at this point.

Her stockingless feet were soaked through, squelching in her high heels as she walked. She knew she had to cross the road to get to her car, but she really didn't want to. The sky had looked ominous from earlier in the evening, but Hinata had not thought much of it, apart from bringing her umbrella with her, when she'd made the stop at her favorite coffee shop.

If the sheer number of people traversing the sidewalks was any indication, she was not the only one. The brunette swiped a wet lock of hair from where it clung to her face, and gave a small groan. She was soaked through! She couldn't wait to go home, take a nice long shower, dress in her favorite warm sweater and have a hot cup of cocoa while she sat by the window, watching the rain while she waited for Sasuke to call.

He'd been calling her every night for three whole weeks and then some, and never missed a night. So far, it sounded like he was in much better spirits than his first call over a month ago.

Hinata was about to cross the road when a dark-coated figure bumped into her, causing her to trip. Her feet wobbled unsteadily in her high heels and Hinata cried out softly in shock as she stumbled into the oncoming throng of people. Two hard hands grasped her by the shoulders, steadying her, and Hinata looked up gratefully to see a _very _familiar face.

Sasuke?

It was Sasuke!

She gaped a little, unable to even speak.

"Hn. Be careful," he said, his familiar voice washing over her like a comfortable blanket. And then he was gone before Hinata could do anymore than nod. But she would know that slouch anywhere. She would know that _hair _anywhere. She would know that slim physique anywhere, because he still haunted her dreams at night. She could see him preparing to jump from that building and end his life like it was _yesterday _and not over a month ago.

She could.

She could follow him.

The thought struck Hinata with the subtlety of a bolt of lightning, and before she knew it, her still slightly unsteady feet were taking her in the same path Sasuke had. Her grey-eyed gaze attached itself to his back as he milled and weaved through the people on the street, back slouched over, hands shoved in pockets, hair plastered to face.

He was absolutely beautiful, in a dark poetic way.

Hinata followed, entranced by the man who she'd just about come to call her best friend. His skin was pale, his features sharp and his eyes... just from that one glance when she had looked into them, she could see how impossibly _dark _they were. This was not counting the circles under his eyes from the fitful sleeping he'd been complaining to her about.

No.

His eyes themselves looked like an eternal abyss that could pull any unsuspecting female in and trap them forever.

And Hinata had definitely been unsuspecting.

She weaved through the people on the rain-soaked sidewalk, keeping her eyes glued to the back of his head as he walked. They had been walking in the rain for over ten minutes before Hinata realized that she was in an extremely familiar spot.

She was right outside her apartment building!

Hinata followed Sasuke inside the building, watching as he gave a short, curt nod to the doorman before heading to the elevator. It was full and the people inside were mainly dry, so he turned and made his way to the stairwell instead. Hinata followed behind him, removing her shoes so that she wouldn't make a detectable sound.

Hinata peeked round the corner in time to see Sasuke going further up the flights of stairs, and then he stopped at the door leading to the passageway of the floor directly above hers. Hinata watched as Sasuke slowly pulled his shoes off so he wouldn't make wet tracks on the carpet, and waited until he went through the door before hurrying up to peek through it.

Sasuke walked further up the hall, took a bunch of keys out of his pocket, slid one into the lock of the door and let himself in.

He actually lived in the same apartment complex that she did!

Hinata put a hand over her mouth to muffle a squeal of... excitement? Or perhaps... no it could only be excitement.

Then she was faced with the next issue.

Did she let him know that she lived there too? Did she let him know that she knew where he lived? Did she let him know that she knew what he looked like?

Hinata's heartbeat sped up as the thoughts swirled around in her head. She slowly made her way back down the stairs, lost in her thoughts, and by the time Hinata got back to the first floor, she had decided.

She wasn't going to tell him.

* * *

Sasuke sat cross-legged on his bed, eyeing Hinata's contact name on the list on his phone. He wanted to call... but he was... well... nervous.

Sometimes that happened. Sometimes he got nervous when he thought about calling her, because what if she'd gotten tired of him? What if she wasn't as dependent on their phone calls as he was? What if she thought he was pathetic?

What if?

Sasuke clenched his teeth, telling himself that he was being foolish, but it wasn't helping. His stomach was still in turmoil, his heart was still racing, he still couldn't breathe properly. Sasuke curled his fingers into fists, then snatched up his phone, tapping the touchscreen with his thumb and watching the call go through.

It rang once.

Twice.

She wasn't going to pick up.

Thrice.

Sasuke pulled the phone from his ear.

And then the line went open.

A tiny grin of relief cracked open his lips, and the face he hadn't even realized was tense relaxed.

"What took you so long, and why the hell do _you_ never call _me?" _Sasuke growled over the line, hiding his relief behind his usual, slightly surly tone. He heard her breathing heavily on the other side.

"S-Sorry... I...I w-was just... in the m-middle of someth-thing..." she huffed. Sasuke's cheeks reddened immediately, as his mind took him _there. _And suddenly he was pissed off.

"Should I hang up or something? You sound like you had a man over," he said shortly, the arm holding the phone to his ear so tense it trembled. He didn't want to share his friend. He didn't really want to think that she had a life outside of their phone calls, and he found himself loathing_ everything_ that came up that reminded him that she_ did_.

"Wh-What?" she squeaked. "No!" Then she giggled. "I w-was running laps... o-on the treadmill..." she giggled again, and Sasuke could hear the sounds of her fridge door opening.

"Hn," he grunted over the line, feeling foolish. "So... anything interesting happen today?" he asked her, tracing the pattern on his comforter with his index finger.

"Well, I saw an old friend," she said. "But it was raining, so he didn't see me," she said vaguely. "What was with the rain today?"

"Yeah... It had people stumbling into me left and right," Sasuke groused.

"Mmm... and you hate any form of bodily contact...right?" Hinata teased gently. Sasuke smiled, letting himself since he was alone and no one was there to see it or judge him for it.

"I don't hate _all _kinds of bodily contact..." Sasuke returned, raising one dark brow. He waited for it.

"S-Sasuke!" she squealed. There it was. He loved getting her flustered. It was so easy, and so fun.

"What?" he asked. "You started it."

"W-Well y-yes, but... you d-didn't have to t-take it th-there!" she sputtered. Sasuke held back a laugh.

"What? I didn't take it anywhere. I didn't even say anything suggestive," he muttered into the receiver.

"W-Well no, you didn't, b-but your _t-tone..._" Hinata said, and Sasuke could almost _hear _her blush.

"Hn..." he grunted over the line.

"What did you do today?" Hinata asked, trying to change the subject. Sasuke let her.

"I... went to see Itachi," he said softly. There was silence over the line.

"What did he say?" Hinata asked after a while, her breathing soft. Sasuke let the comforting sound fill his ear before he responded.

"I didn't go in..." he said, his voice low. "Kami, Hinata... I'm such a wuss. Like what could he possibly have to tell me that...? What could he possibly do from behind...?" Sasuke cursed sharply, apologizing immediately, because Hinata hated hearing people curse.

"Sasuke..." she interrupted him. He stopped speaking, eager to hear what she would say to calm him. "Daijoubu desu."

It will be okay.

That was all it took for tears to sting Sasuke's eyes. He wiped them away angrily, unable to speak lest she hear his weakness.

* * *

"Thank you, Tadaka-san," Hinata said, smiling as she accepted the brown paper bag of shiny red tomatoes. They were Five Star Grape tomatoes, known for their incredible taste. Tadaka-san brought in something special every time he came to market, and this time it was the premium tomatoes. Hinata knew exactly what she was going to do with them.

Hinata moved through the market, the sun warming her hair and cheeks, purchasing other fresh grown produce - they tasted the best and were cheaper in the market - as well as meat, nuts and spices. She would go to the supermarket for her oils, and manufactured items. Hinata enjoyed the smell of the market, the feel of it, and the sound of it. She loved how friendly the vendors were. She loved all the smiles, that were genuine rather than practiced. These people didn't go to school to learn about customer service.

They were just happy people.

And they made her happy too.

Hinata loaded her groceries into her car a few hours later, her dark hair sliding into her face as she bent. She flicked it over her shoulder with a simple movement of her neck, sending the ribbons of dark hair airborne for a second.

And she was oblivious to the stares of the men, women and children alike that watched her.

Hinata closed her car door, and ran around to the driver's side. She had one more stop to make before she went home. As Hinata drove, she wondered about whether or not what she had in mind even made sense. Still, she was curious to find out what it would yield. She only hoped it wouldn't turn out to be a gross mistake, even though she hardly thought it _could. _

Hinata drove out of the market, sand spinning loosely under her car tires. The market was close to the coast, which pretty much ensured that any fish purchased there was guaranteed to be fresh. Hinata had purchased, among other types, her favorite, Basa Fish. She loved that it didn't carry the distinct fishy odor or taste, and the fish vendor had filleted it for her.

She turned on the radio, enjoying some alternative rock music as she drove, stopping at the pharmacy close to her apartment. The Hyuuga female hopped from her car after parking, and jogged inside to pick up a few folded, cream place cards. She also found herself picking up a black-inked calligraphy pen - it wasn't any special brand or one of high quality, but she could use it all the same. She paid for them, giving the cashier a smile, before heading back home.

After parking in the apartment parking lot, Hinata unloaded her groceries and lugged her purchases into the elevator. She rested them on the floor as it went up, and then picked them back up when it stopped. She let herself inside her apartment and put her groceries on the wide kitchen counter.

"Okay," she huffed to herself, placing her hands on her hips and shuffling around in the bags as she looked for the pen and the place cards.

Finding them, she sat down at the kitchen counter, and selected one card. Then she began to write.

* * *

Sasuke sighed as he walked the familiar halls before his apartment door. He rolled his eyes when he saw the brown paper bag outside his apartment. Wrong delivery again? Sasuke approached his door and stopped before it, breathing tiredly. He stood over the paper bag, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with it. He turned around and looked back into the hallway.

It was empty.

_Great._

Sasuke squatted before the paper bag, only noticing his name when he came to a stop. There it was, on the side of the bag, in unmistakable black kanji.

_Uchiha Sasuke._

It was for him? The inky-haired male reached out with tentative fingers to the rolled and stapled top of the bag. His fingers closed over the dry paper and he lifted it, feeling a subtle weight in the paper.

Someone had gotten him a gift?

Sasuke didn't know how to feel about that. As he lifted the bag, a small cream card fell from behind it, and Sasuke picked it up as well.

Eyes glued to the items in his hands, Sasuke let himself into his apartment and then reached into his pocket for his phone. He searched for Hinata's number... okay, fine... he had her on speed dial, but whatever. That was not the point.

The point was, he called her.

The moment the line opened, Sasuke began speaking.

"So someone left me something... at my door. Weird, huh?" he muttered, setting the items on his counter, but not touching them.

"Oh hey, Sasuke. What was it? Are you sure it's yours?" Hinata asked, sounding like she was eating. She didn't really stutter when she spoke to him. She told him she was fairly alright when talking over the phone, but it was the face to face stuff that had her stuttering uncontrollably at times... depending on who it was she was speaking to. He _could _get her to stutter when he wanted to, which he often did because she sounded so cute.

Not that he would admit that that was his reason.

"What do you mean, am I sure it's mine? Of course I'm sure. It has my name on it. What... what, you think I can't get gifts?" Sasuke asked, a little irritated.

"What?" Hinata gasped. "I never said that! It's just... sometimes people deliver to the wrong door, but if it has your name on it, then obviously it's not that..." she said. Sasuke bit his lower lip.

"Hn..."

"So... what's in it?" Hinata asked, and he could hear the sound of metal chopsticks on a ceramic plate. Sasuke didn't reply. Hinata giggled, "You haven't opened it yet, have you?"

"...What if it has like a bomb in it, or something?" Sasuke muttered, eyeing the package warily. Hinata laughed, her breathy tone filtering over the phone line.

"It won't have a _bomb _in it. Why would someone send you a _bomb?_" she giggled. "Just open it... don't be a..." she faltered, before clearing her throat. Sasuke scowled.

"Don't be a... what?" he prodded, poking experimentally at the bag. It gave an innocent rustle.

"What?" Hinata breathed. "N-Nothi-"

"Oh, don't _lie _to me," Sasuke growled. "Just say it..." There was a long pause.

"Well... a _wuss..."_ she whispered. Sasuke blinked.

"Hinata..." he mumbled, a little disbelievingly as he continued to poke at the bag.

"Hmm?" she returned, and the clattering of the chopsticks against the ceramic dish started again.

"...Did you just call me a wuss?" Sasuke muttered blandly, eyes narrowing. He was _not _a wuss.

"This is all your fault!" Hinata exclaimed after a moment. Sasuke's jaw actually fell, and then he clamped it shut, feeling a bit stupid.

"Wh- How the hell is this _my _fault?" he almost yelled into the phone, brows drawn together.

"You're such a bad influence! Just a month after I meet you, and you're having me saying words like 'wuss' and... and _'anal'_..." she complained, actually sounding a little distressed. Sasuke gave a short bark of a chuckle.

"I don't force you to say them..." he muttered, sounding pleased with himself. What the hell. He _was _pleased with himself. Hinata could be such a little fraidy-cat sometimes.

"...Well I'm not forcing you to be a w... wuss either. Open the stupid package..." she blurted suddenly. "S-See? B-Bad influence! I should j-just h-hang up!" she stuttered in frustration.

Sasuke scowled.

"_Fine. _I'll open it. But if you dare hang up..." he snapped, reaching for the paper bag.

"I won't hang up..." she mumbled.

"Fine," Sasuke snapped, tugging at the staples holding the bag together. Hinata giggled. "What?"

"I'm not going to yell 'fine' back at you... this isn't a movie, you know..." she giggled, sounding highly amused. Sasuke glowered, which was dumb because she couldn't see him and get intimidated.

"...Just shut up..." he muttered, tugging at the staples on the bag... they were resilient little bitches...

"Am I supposed to be taking you seriously?" Hinata asked after a moment. The staples gave.

"...No..." Sasuke replied shortly and quietly, unfolding the top of the bag. "So I opened the bag..."

"What's in it?" she asked eagerly, and Sasuke could hear the sounds of dishes being put into the sink from her side.

"Just be patient; I haven't looked yet..." Sasuke muttered. "Hold on..." He looked into the bag, and was rendered completely speechless. Inside the bag, about twenty perfectly red Five Star Grape Tomatoes lay, glistening tantalizingly at him.

"You've gone quiet..." Hinata murmured.

"... They sent me tomatoes... Five Star Grape... This is..." Sasuke said absently, staring at the tomatoes in the bag with disbelief. The tomatoes... They were...

He took them out, one by one and perused the taut, shiny, red, unbruised skin, lifting each tomato to his nose so he could inhale the distinct scent.

They were _perfect._

All that was left was to taste them.

Sasuke took up one, rinsed it, and bit into it. Immediately after his teeth broke the skin, the tart, salty, acidic, yet slightly sweet juices flowed over his tongue, the pulp bursting into his mouth like a red wave of perfection.

"That good?" Hinata asked. "I wish I was there to see..." she moaned. "If they can get you to make such sounds, they must be amazing..."

And then he took up the card.

"They are perfection..." Sasuke reiterated. "If you were here, you would agree that cinnamon rolls have nothing on these." Sasuke ignored her vehement disagreements and continued, "This... this is the card now. It says,

_"Where there is no struggle, there is no strength. _

_You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have!_

_Have a lovely day, and enjoy your tomatoes!"_

Sasuke felt the impact of the words for a split second before his vision blurred completely... and he was sobbing like a baby. The card fell from his hand as he covered his mouth to muffle the sounds he was making. He curled his fingers around the receiver so that Hinata wouldn't hear him sobbing like... like _this._

"I don't even know who the hell sent this..." he choked out after a few moments. No one had ever done anything like this for him before.

Something occurred to him.

"Hinata... was it you? Did you send this to me?" he asked, still choked up.

"...Have you ever told me where you live?" she asked.

"No, but-"

"Does it matter?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah..." Sasuke replied, scrubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Yeah, it does."

He was going to find the person who sent him this if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

**OMG this took me longer than I expected to get done! **

**Next chapter: After receiving more presents, Sasuke decides to give something back. He thinks he has seen the gift-giver!**

**Follow, to find out more (^_^)!**


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